Pomodoro Timer
Work in focused 25-minute sessions with short breaks in between; the timer switches automatically and beeps when each session ends.
Focus
25:00
Round 1 of 4
Options
The timer keeps accurate time in background tabs and beeps when a session ends.
How it works
- Press Start to begin a 25-minute focus session; the countdown and the browser tab title show the remaining time.
- When the beep sounds, the timer switches to a 5-minute break on its own — after four focus rounds you get a longer 15-minute break.
- Use Pause to stop the clock, Skip to jump to the next session, or open Options to change the focus, break, and long-break durations.
Frequently asked questions
- How does the Pomodoro technique work?
- You work in fixed focus intervals, classically 25 minutes, separated by 5-minute breaks, and after four rounds you take a longer break of around 15 minutes. The fixed end point makes it easier to start unpleasant tasks and the breaks prevent the slow attention drain of working for hours without stopping. This timer follows that cycle automatically, so you only decide when to start.
- Does the timer keep running if I switch to another tab?
- Yes. The countdown is based on the actual clock time when the session should end, not on counting ticks, so backgrounding the tab or a busy computer does not make it drift. The tab title shows the remaining time, letting you keep an eye on the session while you work in another window.
- Can I change the 25/5 durations?
- Open the Options section to set your own focus, short-break, and long-break lengths in minutes, and how many focus rounds run before a long break. Many people use 50/10 for deep work or 15/3 when getting started; changes apply to the next session, or immediately if the timer is idle.
- Will I hear a sound when a session ends, and does anything get uploaded?
- A short, quiet double beep is generated locally with the Web Audio API when each session ends — there is no audio file to load and no notification permission to grant. The whole timer runs in your browser with no account, no tracking of your sessions, and no data sent anywhere.
- What do the dots under the timer mean?
- Each dot is one focus round in the current cycle. Filled dots are completed focus sessions, the outlined dot is the one in progress, and when all four are filled the next break is the long one. After the long break the dots clear and a new cycle begins.
About this tool
This is a straightforward Pomodoro timer: press Start and it runs the classic cycle of 25 minutes of focused work, a 5-minute break, and a longer 15-minute break after every fourth focus round. Sessions switch automatically with a soft double beep, so you never have to reset anything mid-cycle — the only decisions left are Start, Pause, Skip when a meeting interrupts you, and Reset when you want a clean slate.
The timer runs entirely in your browser. Instead of counting seconds with a ticking script — which browsers throttle in background tabs — it records the exact clock time each session should end and displays the difference. That means the countdown stays accurate even if the tab is hidden for twenty minutes, your laptop is busy, or the screen locks briefly. The end-of-session beep is synthesized on the spot with the Web Audio API, and the remaining time is mirrored into the tab title, so you can park the timer in a background tab and still see it from your taskbar. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or tracked.
The 25/5 rhythm is a default, not a rule. Open Options to set any focus, break, or long-break length and the number of rounds per cycle: 50/10 suits deep programming or writing sessions, 15/3 lowers the barrier when you are procrastinating, and a 90-minute focus block with a 20-minute break approximates an ultradian rhythm schedule. Changes take effect on the next session, or immediately when the timer is idle.
A few practical tips: decide what the next focus session is for before you press Start, and write it down — a Pomodoro with no defined task tends to leak into email. Treat the beep as a hard stop even mid-sentence; stopping at a known point makes restarting easier. And actually leave the screen during breaks: the technique works because the pauses are real pauses, not a different tab.